The past three days have been MARVELOUS. I think that, in contrast with last week, because everything has been going so smoothly, all the little things that I would usually take for granted seem to be the biggest accomplishments & best news even though they are mundane or awkward, at best haha.
Like my own little coffee shop!!! I swear only a barista (past or present) could appreciate finding your own personal coffee shop where the cute little European girls (or cute little older European women) know you, get excited to see you, and try to make you feel at home.
(P.S. the pictures were taken with my webcam (yes, I was creeping...) so pardon the crap-tastic quality...I'll take some legit ones soon!)
Let me tell you about it! It's called Top Ten, Coffee & Shop (which tells me that it is, in fact European, regardless of it's English name...because I think they just want to say "coffee shop". The fact that the name is in English, without any kind of sense, means it's just super chic :) Anyways, it is less than a block away from my school, so I will be here almost every day. I have a coffee break BUILT IN to my teaching schedule, so I always escape to come here for a little pick-me-up. (Note: More about teaching later BUT I haven't even really STARTED and I'm already completely exhausted. How do teachers do it? Kids are little brats! Especially those who think I speak no Spanish. Falsies!) So there are three workers here that I know (not super well, we're not on a name basis yet). One is super cute & young who asked if I'd prefer to speak in English (due to my blonde hair...surprise) and I told her I didn't mind. She's my favorite because she helped me figure out how to order my cafe con leche so that I could turn it into an iced latte...AND she didn't judge me. (I've found that in Europe, it's sacriledge to ice coffee...or cafe con leche. Unless it's blended in a Frappuccino...or become cold because you put ice cream in it. At Club Mac Dons, you can get cafe con helado, or coffee with ice cream, for 1 euro. And don't judge, it's PHENOMENAL. It's definitely in my Top 10 favorite foods of all time. That good.)
I got off on a tangent somewhere there. Hmmm. Oh yes so my favorite girl is super cute and super sweet and we agreed that day by day we'd speak English & Spanish alternatively. Another girl that works here is younger as well, black, very sassy. She intimidates me but I always take my dishes up to the counter to help them out and try to brown nose my way into coolness with her. She always calls me pet names like "carino" or "amor" and I love it, haha. That's how I know she likes me! The third is this little, completely typical Spaniard who is in and/or about her early fifties. Spanish qualities: lack of regard for personal space, lack of height, lack of regard for personal conversations & personal business, lack of regard for schedules, excess of eye-liner, and profound love and interest for the English language. So basically, I love her. Juliet & I came here our first day after school (keep in mind that was Wednesday...this has all happened so quickly!) and she came upstairs to ask us how we were, what we were doing, where we're from, etc. So we explain we work at the Colegio Maria Inmaculada a few doors down and will be here a lot. She was ecstatic. So the next morning Juliet left earlier than I did to get to school so she could grab coffee, & home girl was like, "where's your friend!?" (That's MEE!!!!) haha. I was so excited. Still am. So then today, when I got here, I came inside and talked to my favorite girl in English for a little bit and before I even saw her, I hear a voice from my armpit saying excitedly, "HI!! HOW ARE YOU TODAY!??" (in Spanish of course) she's sneaky too, and had sniped me from behind the counter when she saw me come in, haha! So I look down and there she was, wide-eyed and so excited as always. So they explained to the other worker who doesn't know me that I'm an English teacher & slowly teaching them English. They all agreed they would get a group together and I could help them learn.
Not to mention that Top Ten is a baller cafe. See pictures above, but they have nice chocolate colored couches, a modern staircase, PAID wi-fi (like they pay for it for their customers...so the signal is reliable unlike Club Mac Dons), nice recliners downstairs, and their color scheme is orange & brown (which seems a little weird but it just makes the place feel like fall...or autumn, as they call it here). They also have a projector by the entrance that projects MTV at all times of the day (with huge speakers that attach to the cafe...so it's kind of like Starbucks, with more modern & upbeat music and a visual as well. Someone should tell Howard)
Basically, I'm in love with this little coffee shop. It's 2 metro stops away from my house, but the bus gets here in 10 minutes and soon enough I'll have my public transportation pass (unlimited) so it would be inconvenient for me to go anywhere else.
And without this important resource, how else would I know that Jersey Shore is premiering here in Spain next tuesday at 22:30?? Like Spain needs more reasons to think America is trashy, haha. Crap.
I also just realized that I didn't write anything about school...and I would now but if I've learned anything from Pi Phi VPM e-mails, nobody voluntarily reads anything that is substantially long so...I'll add that tonight or maybe tomorrow. I don't want people getting bored & stop reading...I'll lose my Internet fame before it even begins!
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